Left Chicago on a Tuesday morning. Applied for the visa on Sunday night, wasn’t sure it would come through in time. Layover in Tokyo, then straight to Hanoi. Somewhere over the Pacific, my phone buzzed with the approval email. Three days from application to approved.Immigration at Noi Bai was quick. Showed them my printed letter, they checked the passport, stamped it, and waved me through. Maybe ten minutes total. Grabbed a taxi to the Old Quarter and was eating pho on the street within an hour of landing.Looking back, I should have applied earlier. But it worked out. A friend of mine waited five days for his. Sometimes it’s faster, sometimes slower. Nobody guarantees anything specific.